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English title shot

Dave Lawrenson
1/ 5/2008

SALFORD boxer Steve Foster Junior is plotting glory at super featherweight level – starting with an English title shot against Bradford’s Femi Fehintola.

Both men have signed up for the title fight and Foster Junior, aged 27, has been told that it will take place in June, probably as part of an Amir Khan show at the NEC Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, June 21.

He is convinced that he will take the belt from 25-year-old Fehintola, who has lost just one of his 18 professional fights. And Foster Junior is then hoping to meet the winner of the scheduled WBO Super Featherweight title clash between the Dominican Republic’s Joan Guzman and Scotland’s Alex Arthur.

Foster Junior came agonisingly close to beating Arthur in an interim world title fight in December and he would love the chance to avenge the points defeat.

The Salfordian moved up from the featherweight division to take on Arthur.

He then signed up to try and take back his WBU Featherweight crown from Liverpool’s Derry Matthews – the only other man to beat Foster Junior in his 23-fight professional career – in April.

But he pulled out five weeks before the fight after struggling to make the weight having increased his muscle mass to take on Arthur.

Foster Junior said: "I was gutted to have to pull out of the Derry Matthews fight. But I was 10 pounds over the weight limit and it would have been dangerous to lose that much for the fight. It would have left me weak and not at my best.

"I am sticking at super featherweight now having proved against Arthur that I can box well at that weight.

"I feel very confident at that weight and will only get better at super featherweight as time goes on.

"I am delighted to be fighting for an English title. Fehintola is a good boxer but I’m sure that I can beat him.

"I’m working hard in the gym and I’m in great shape.

"And after the English title fight I could meet the winner of the fight between Arthur and Guzman. I have been told that that could definitely be on the cards.

"I would be happy fighting either of those but I would particularly like a rematch with Arthur."

Foster Junior is also keen to avenge his defeat to Matthews.

He said: "I’d still love to fight him. He may move up to super featherweight so that could well happen.

"When I pulled out of the world title fight with Matthews another boxer (Mongolia’s Choi Tseveen-purev) knocked him out after taking my place.

"That did not surprise me as becoming a world champion went to Matthews’ head. I’m confident that I’d beat him if he took me on at super featherweight level."

Salford’s Jamie Moore has agreed to fight Mexico’s Esau Herrera in an eight-round international contest on the Ricky Hatton homecoming show at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday, May 24.

The 29-year-old has now fully recovered from the shoulder operation he underwent at the end of last year.

And he hopes that the May bout against 23-year-old Herrera, whose record reads 13 wins from 17 contests, will prove to be a warm up fight for a European Light Middleweight title shot with Zaurbek Baysangurov.

Moore is the mandatory challenger for Baysangurov’s belt. But Sky have yet to fix a date for the European title fight and the Russian could back out of the proposed contest unless Moore secures an extension to the contract agreement between the two fighters.